Load responsive recoil snubber



Nov. 21, 1939. E. G. GOODWIN LQAD RESPONSIVE RECOIL SNUBBER Filed Jap. ll, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 21, 1939. E;l G. GOODWIN LOAD RESPQNSIVE RECOIL-SNUBBER Filed Jan. 11, 1936 2 sheetssheet 2 INVENTOR G aw/N Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ICE i 2,180,900 iLoA'D REsPo'Nsm rincon.' sNUBBEn mest G. `lu'nwin, Roanoke; Va. yApplication raiiuary 1 1, 1936. serial no. 58,734 17 anims. (o1. 10s- 193) This invention relates to railway snubbers particularly for freight cars having helical'springs.'

i in its action and automatically takesup for wear.

A still further object is to utilize the necessary 4vertical guiding surfaces between the sprung and unsprung parts as combination guide and friction surfaces.

-20 These and other objects of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description of a preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a partly sectional side elevation of a railway truck equipped with my invention, the

view being taken on line vI-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a partly sectional plan view taken substantially on line 2 -2 of Figure 1.

ment.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross section taken on line 4-T4 of Figure -3.

Figures 5, 6 and 1 are respectively side elevation, plan view and verticalcross section of the 35 wedge used in the snubber. Figure 8 and 9 are side and front elevations of the arm or equalizer.

As will be seen in Figure 1 my invention v`is torn wall 23 to form pockets 24 and 25 for re ceiving the snubbing wedges 21 which are pref'- erably identical and interchangeable. The top Wall.30 is preferably of about standard bolster width so as to provide ledges 3I and 32 which project over the pockets and thus to a considerable extent keep dust and dirt from the coop- Figure 3 is a side elevation of the fulcrum ele-A 7 the notches 6I are considerably deeper than the eratingA surfaces 33 and 34 of the wedge and wall. As shown in Figure 2 the bolsterends are provided with the usual flanges 36 to limit the transverse bolster movement and `these flanges also form the substantially vertical end walls 38 of 5 the wedge pockets which end walls preferably converge slightly inward.

The sloping side walls 20 and 2I of the bolster are apertured as at '40 for accommodating the Wedge engaging arm 4I of the lever member -43 10 shown best in Figures 1, 8 and 9.' The other arm 45 ofthe lever is operably connected as by a spring seat 46 with a wedge operating spring 48, the bottom wall of the bolster being apertured as at 50 for loosely receiving said spring seat. 15

'Iransverse bosses or ribs 5I are provided on top of the leverfor receiving and centering the ful- `crum bar 52 (Figures 1, 3 and 4) and similar means 54 are provided on the under` side of the top bolster wall 30 for receiving the upper -side20 of the bar. The fulcrum bar and the levers are diagonally positionedin the .bolster and with respect to the rectangularly arranged nest of four springs but the arrangement may be changed to accommodate a different number and different 25 arrangement of springs. Due to the diagonal position of the levers 'the wedge engaging end 56 of the arm 4I is preferably oblique to the lever axis. The cylindrical surface 51 on the end 56 provides a roller engagement with the surface 58 30 at the bottom of the central opening 59 inthe r Wedge which opening roughly registers with the large opening 40 in the bolster wall.

The fulcrum bar 52 is in effect a centralsec- 'tion of a cylinder since it has rounded edges both 35 in thel notches 60 and 6I for receiving the lever arms and on the projections. 62 and 63 for engaging the upper wall of the bolster between the ribs 54. It will be noted in Figures 3 and 4 that notches on the opposite edge, the reason-for this 40 being to provide an easy adjustment which consists simply in inverting the fulcrum thus in effect increasing or decreasing the depth of the fulcrum bar, it being understood that only the 45 notch portion engages the levers and only the projections engage the bolster. The angle which the bolster engaging face 33 of the wedge 21 makes with thevertical friction face 65 determines the amount of snubbing that 50 may be had and the sharper the wedges, the less force required of the lever to bring the shoes into action,` thus a. relatively small inside coil spring 48 serves the purpose for-'the 'mechanism lllustrailed in Figure 1. The other springs I4 of the 55 wedges and thus prevents excessive pressure against the columns but the inside coil spring 48 ,1o reacting" thru the lever 43 causes the wedges to follow the bolster'by forcing the wedges down in proportion to the amount of .compression of the springs thus causing some snubbing on each downward motion of the bolster. .However, on

the rebound the. sloping bolster walls 20, 2| tend tojwedge the shoes apart, increasing the pressure on the columns while at the same time the springs 48 continue to act thus causing a much larger snubbing action than occurs when the springs are compressed. In the embodiment illustrated there will be substantially '10% of the snubbin'g onl the recoil and 30% during compression which is the desired proportion. -It will be appreciated.

that the snubbing action varies with the load since the coil f exerts a-force at all times -in' accordance with its compression. A

Although I have shown 'ai snubbing wedge on each-side of the bolsterit will be seen that a single wedge, due to its reaction, would create pressure against'both columns and thus secure the maximumor same snubbing area. However,'

I prefer the design shown with two shoes as it makes it easier for-the bolster lto adjust itself as the car truck passes' over vertical curves or where the side -frame and -car lbody rock longitudinally with respect to each other. Figure 2 shows my preferred arrangement of levers and wedges but it will be obvious to those skilled in'railwayvcar design that my invention may be incorporated in the truck in about as many diilerent .ways as there are diiferent arrange. ments of springs. 1

While I` have shown the sloping side of th wedge and adjacent bolster wall as flat, either of. these faces may be crowned to insure perfect ,seating of the wedge against the column throughv a. slight rocking action. In practice, however, 'the'at faces are preferredunless themetals are very hard.

-The vertical portion il of the wedge may be termed the shoe proper and as is well known in the art may be separately attached to the wedge portion or may -be integral therewith as shown herein.

What I claim is: 1. In a.A car ck, a side drame, springs on said side frame, a bolster. V.supported on said springs and means n'iovable with and in part 'carried'withinthe bolster for frictionally engaging the side frame, said means including a lever for utilizing the recoil' action of.s ox 'ne of said springs to 'varysaid frictional engagement with Va force proportional to the recoil force'of said Sprinss' '2. In combination with a bolster end having in one side a wedge-shaped pocket pointing. down' ward, a wedge in said pocket having one face vertical for engaging a column and linkage in the bolster end having a part arranged to engage a` bolster supporting spring and having another part engaging said wedge and tending to move it downward with respect to the bolstergwhen said vlinkageis acted upon Iby said supporting spring.

.3. A bolster end having an apertured bottom wall, said aperture adapted to resister with bolster supporting spring, an apertured side wall sloping inward and upward from one side edge of the bottom wall thereby adapted to cooperate with the vertical face of a side frame column to form a downwardly pointing wedge receiving 5 ing a.v sloping wall forming with said vertical 15 wall a downwardly pointing wedge-shaped pocket, a wedging means in said pocket having a friction lface engaging said first mentioned friction face and spring-pressed rocking means movable with said sprung member for moving said wedging' means downward'with a force that varies with the compression of the springs supporting the sprung member, Awhereby the rebound-of the sprung member is snubbed with greater force 'at the beginning of its upward movement than at 25 the end of `said movement.

5. In a car truck, a bolster, springs supporting said bolster on the truck, aJ side frame having means for guiding said bolster, said means and vsaid bolster having adjacent walls, one of said walls being vertical and having a friction face,

the'wall proximate to said vertical wall being sloped to form therewith a downwardly pointing wedge-shaped pocket, a wedge in said pocket having a vertical friction face engaging the first 35 mentioned friction.' face and acting therewith Vto snub the movement ofthe bolster, said wedge vbeing so arranged as ,to be urged by action of said friction faces todecrease the wedging en- .gagement 'as'the bolster moves downward, a rigid 40 member fulcrumed on the bolster and spring- `pressedtourge the wedge downwardly into the pocket with a force that increases and decreases with load increase and load decrease respectively,

whereby as thebolstermoves downwardly a small '45' but increasingsnubbing action is produced-and as the bolster reboundsY the wedge is moved intowedging engagement both by the spring action v andthe frictional action to thus produce ',a great snubbing force whichV decreases as the 50 bolster moves upward. 6. In a car truck, a bolster spring supported on said truck, said truck including a side frame having spaced columns for guidingl the bolster as it moves up and down, wedges on each side 55 ofthe bolster adapted to be moved by the bolster into wedging engagement with the -columns and bolster upon the upward movement of the bolster and to be urged out of wedging engagement by the downward movement of the bolstenlwcdge springs, and power translating means movable with the bolster and engaging said springs and lsaid wedges to increase the wedging engagement in proportion to the compression of all the springs, whereby the rebound of the bolster is `snubbed with greater force than the movement inV the opposite direction, and auch rebound snubbing is greater at the beginning of the upwardmovement than at the end of such movement, snubbing the bolster movement in ac'- 70 cordance with said wedging engagement. and mechanism including spring means tending to increase said wedging engagement in accordance with the compression of the bolster springs.

'z .ln a'car truck, a ,bolster spring-supported 75 on said truck, said truck including a side -frame having spaced columnsv for guidi'ng the bolster as it moves up and down, wedges on each side of the bolster adapted to be moved by the bolster into wedging engagement with the columns and bolster upon the upward movement of the bolster and tobe urged out of wedglng engagement by the downward movement of the bolster, and a lever fulcrumed on the bolster and transmitting the forceof said spring means to the wedges.

8. In a car truck, a bolster spring-supported on said truck, said truck including a side frame having spaced'coiumns for guiding the bolster as it moves up and down, wedges on each side of the bolster adaptedto be moved by the bolster into wedging engagement with the columns and bolster upon the upward movement of the bolster and to be urged out of wedglng engagement by the downward movement of the bolster, said wedges having friction surfaces -for snubbing the bolster movement in accordance with the wedg- 'ing engagement, and a lever arranged to be acted on at all times by one of the springs supporting the bolster, said lever engaging one of said wedges to maintain a wedging engagement proportional to the compression of the bolster springs.

9. In a car truck, a bolster, springs'for supporting said bolster on the truck, said truck including a side fram'e having spaced columns for guiding the bolster as it moves up and down, shoes slidable on the columns and movable with the bolster to snub the spring action, a wedge between one side of the bolster and the proximate shoe, and means actuated by part of said springs to urge said wedge into wedging engagement in accordance withtheI movement of the bolster to thus create pressure of the shoes on said columns, said wedge being acted on by the bolster in its downward movement to decrease said wedglng engagement and being acted on by the bolster in its upward movement to increase said wedging engagement` whereby the greatest amount of snubbing occurs on the rebound of the bolster.

l0. 'I'he device of claim 9 in which said means includes a lever adapted to be operated by said part of said springs to act on said wedge as recited.

11. The device of claim 9 in which is provided a spring seat for one of said springs and-in which said means includes a lever pivoted'on the bolster and having one arm engaging one oi said wedges and the other arm carrying -said spring seat whereby the total force of said one spring acts on the lever to operate the wedge.

12. A self-snubbing bolster ladapted to replace the usual standard bolster carried by a nest of coil springs comprising a bottom wall for'resting on said springs, said wall having two apertures therein in place of the usual spring seat for two of said springs, a spring seat loosely carried in each of said apertures, a top wall spaced above said bottom-wall, two side walls 'sloping upward and inward from the edges of the bottom wall and joining the top wall. wedges carried on said sloping walls, two ievers pivoted in the bolster and each having one arm projecting through the side walls for engaging said wedges and the otherarmcarryingsaidspringseatsinthe bottomwallwherebywhen in a car truck two of. the springs act on lsaid wedgesto causethe s ame to create a snubbingaction.

13. In a car truck, a spring supported bolster having sloping 'side walls at its ends,-a side-l irame having column faces opposite said sloping walls, said walls cooperating with said column faces to form wedge receiving pockets, snubbing wedges in s'aid pockets and having limited ver-` tical4 play therein, snubbing springs on the sideframe and levers pivoted on the bolster end and engaging the respective wedges, said levers also engaging the snubbing' springs and tending to be turned thereby about their respective pivots to urge the wedgesA into said pockets to create a" snubbing action as 'the bolster moves up and dOWn.

14. In a car truck, a side framefsprings on said side frame, a bolster supported on said springs, snubbing shoes loosely carried bythe bolster for frictionally engaging the side frame to produce a spring damping action, lever means pivotally carried by the bolster for transmitting the force of some of said springs to said shoes to maintain said damping action, and means on the bolster for .addingy to the damping-action as vthe ybolster rebounds and for subtracting fron the bolster end cooperates with a column of the side frame to form a downwardly pointed wedgeshaped pocket for receiving a downwardly pointing wedgeshaped snubbing member, and an'integral ledge projecting'from the bolster over the top of said pocket to prevent dirt and dust fallf ing into the pocket.

16. In a car truck,` a side frame having a bolster opening and friction surfaces on the sidesy of said opening, 'springs -on-said side frame, a bolster supported on said springs, friction shoes carried by the bolster for slidably engaging said friction surfaces and means carried by the bolster for forcing said shoes against said' surfaces with a'greater force at the beginning of the'upward movement of the bolster than at the end of its upward movement,.said means including downwardly pointing wedge mechanism and lever mechanism lengaging said wedge mechanism, and

a spring member engaging the side frame and -said lever mechanism. v

siliently biased with respect to said side .frame and -downwardly pointing wedge rockingly yengaged thereby for frictionally engaging the column, to retard the upward vertical movement lof the bolster with a force that decreases as the bolster moves upward.

maar G.- 

